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DY-100
The DY-100 was a class of early space going vessels developed by Earth in the late 20th century. Service history The early history of the DY-100 series of craft began in the 1950s decade, following the Roswell Incident when the United States Army made first contact with a group of extraterrestrial beings that called themselves Ferengi. This trio of aliens were examined at the Roswell Army Air Field base but later mysteriously vanished though elements of their technology remained behind but these also mysteriously disappeared. Regardless, the incident sparked the creation of a top secret program developed by the US government. Designated as Project F, the aim was the creation of the first interstellar craft capable of entering into space and began by studying the propulsion technology that was left behind by the aliens. Situated at the Groom Lake Facility, the Project involved a large research group that sought to make the interstellar travel practical. It also involved drafting various head researchers into the project which included Doctor Marcus Walter Nichols of Plexicorp on 15 March 1993 after his creation of transparent aluminum along with his development of cryosatellites. Unknown to anyone, Shannon O'Donnel who was attached to the project was receiving covert data from a woman identifying herself as Helen Swanson that aided in the creation of the DY-100's propulsion engine. By the year 1995, the DY-100 series were first constructed at a time when Earth sought to establish a more permanent foothold in space though any such missions at the time made use of primitive chemical rocket impulse drives with any form of travel within the Sol system taking years to accomplish. ( , ) In 1996, "Helen Swanson" once again met with Shannon O'Donnel to pass further information on the propulsion technology in order to quicken the conclusion of the project. This was because the shadowy conflict known as the Eugenics Wars was being waged across the Earth and her superior Gary Seven intended to use the DY-100 as a back up plan in case he failed to prevent World War III. If that event were to occur, Agent Seven intended to use the prototype DY-100 as an escape vessel for the last survivors of the planet in order to settle them elsewhere on a new world in order to begin a fresh start for the human species. Of the genetic superbeings from the Chrysalis Project, only Khan Noonien Singh remained who intended to destroy the planet with his Morning Star satellite weapon. However, Gary Seven instead offered a compromise; Khan along with his followers were to leave the planet and settle another world through the use of a sleeper ship. To make this goal a reality, Agent Seven had Roberta Lincoln steal the prototype vessel of the DY-100 series craft which became christened as the SS Botany Bay after the Australian penal colony. Roberta instructed O'Donnel to maintain that she was under Ferengi mind control when questioned, and then tranquilized her. The event saw Shannon O'Donnel being forced to leave the project due to her role in stealing the ship for Lincoln though O'Donnel despite the claim of being under "Ferengi mind control". After the prototype was named, Khan and 84 of his followers were put into stasis while Gary Seven put the ship on course for a class M world approximately 100 light years from Earth. The SS Botany Bay was thus used to exile Khan and the last of his followers from the planet Earth thus seeing the conclusion of the Eugenics War. Despite the loss of the prototype ship, the designs and technical data remained at Area 51 which was perfectly capable of replicating the ship in the future. ( ) The first initial launches of further deep space transports led to a number of such craft being lost. This saw the developers suspecting several key malfunctions occured after lift off and thus brought about a re-design of the internal arrangement of the craft. Later DY-100 transports played a crucial role in the colonization of Earth's Moon with several such vessels being used to transport exploration teams to Mars and Io. There were even some ambitious missions that intended to send a number of craft outside the solar system entirely in order to explore new worlds though such missions were extremely dangerous due to the number of unknown variables involved. However, this did not deter a number of explorers that volunteered for such missions along with their desire to colonize distant planets. Two additional DY-100 ships were discovered in an abandoned underground bunker in Africa's Western Desert in 2045. These were used to return two stranded Vulcans back to their homeworld. Mankinds desire to further expand into space were hampered due to the devastating events of World War III that left much of the planet in ruin. However, in 2063, Zefram Cochrane created the warp drive and a means for interstellar travel above that of the sub-light designs used in previous years. This saw the creation of the DY-500 transports that served as a successor to the DY-100 series. ( , ) Khan's ship was found adrift by the in 2267. Khan was the first to be revived when the Botany Bay detected the landing party from the Enterprise. Further examinations revealed that 12 of the stasis pods had malfunctioned during the ship's long journey, leaving 42 men and 30 women alive. Some of the cargo bays from the Botany Bay were then used as shelters when Khan and his followers were allowed to colonize Ceti Alpha V. ( , ) Overview These vessels were intended to serve as sleeper ships that made use of cryogenic technology to freeze the occupants of the craft whilst automated systems navigated the starship on its course as well as maintained the various systems. Originally, they were only outfitted with impulse engines which meant that journeys onboard these craft would take centuries to reach distant star systems. Constructed on the planetary surface, they were launched into orbit using attached booster rockets with an internal chemical rocket engine being used to achieve breakaway speeds as well as a limited form of thruster control along with maneuverability. Afterwards, cargo and passengers were loaded onto the vessel by way of orbital facilities. As it made use of sub-light propulsion, these transports often took years to travel to their destinations. This meant that an automated piloting system was used whilst the crew hiberated in their cryogenic chambers. Due to the fact that the DY-100 was not intended for atmospheric flight, it was designed with the intention that once in orbit - cargo modules would be used for orbital insertion at specific coordinates. ( , ) Following the redesign of the ship, new features were added such as the addition of facilities in order to allow manned crews to pilot the craft. After the initial launch period and entry into space, the crew were then able to retire into their cryogenic systems. This proved to solve the earlier problem of failed take offs as it was learnt that once the transport was launched, a gyro-destabilization error occured during the violent event which caused a miscalibration in the navigational sensors. Thus, the addition of manned crews to correct this issue saw fewer launched ships being lost in their journeys. ( ) The DY-100 later led to the development of a series of similar vessels, such as the DY-500 class. Outwardly, the DY-100 and 500 were similar enough that at times even experienced Starfleet officers were unable to tell the difference between such ships from a distance. ( ) Appendices Connections External Link * Category:Earth starship classes Category:20th century starships